The City of Hartsville announced that it has refinanced the balance of its waterworks and sewer system revenue bonds, which will save the City more than $1.6 million over the remaining years of the bond issue, and also achieved a rating of A+ from Standard and Poor’s Rating Services for these bonds.
The refinancing of the revenue bonds, which are comprised of a variety of infrastructure upgrades to the City’s water and sewer system, brought the remaining average interest rate down from 3.99 percent to 2.58 percent. This rate reduction, combined with an accelerated schedule of bond payments, will reduce the total payment period by 15 years from its original end point to conclude 14 years from now and create a gross savings amount of $1,633,966.
In the process of this refinancing of these revenue bonds, Standard and Poor’s Rating Services assigned the bonds a rating of A+, a noteworthy achievement for a municipality of its size.
“This rating shows the City’s strong ability to fulfill its financial obligations when providing water and sewer service to residents and businesses alike,” Finance Director Shannon Morrison said. “It’s evidence that the City is carefully maintaining financial assets for utilities, and ultimately demonstrates that the City is serving as good stewards of our utility system.”
Savings realized by this move will help reduce the cost burden to City of Hartsville utility customers for the construction of an upcoming Public Service Department complex. The complex, soon to enter its design phase, is intended to meaningfully enhance the department’s efficiency. It will combine the department’s divisions — Utilities, Solid Waste, Environmental Services, Streets and Grounds and Wastewater – in a single location, replacing the scattered set of facilities, some decades old, in which they are now housed.
“Finance Director Shannon Morrison worked hard throughout the rating process to represent our financial policies well and secure this greatly improved financing plan,” City Manager Natalie Zeigler said. “The City’s accomplishments in reducing costs to our water and sewer operations will ultimately pave the way for major advancements to our services.”